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The sun was setting in the west, with only the afterglow lingering on certain places in the capital, and it was about to set. In a dark corner somewhere, there was a short man in thick clothes hiding from the wind. He stretched his head and looked down from time to time. He was obviously waiting for someone and seemed a little anxious.

After waiting for a while, a man who was also wearing thick clothes and with no obvious features from his appearance finally came. But when the waiting man saw it, he immediately jumped out and whispered: "This is so scary, I want to pay more!"

"What are you afraid of? The factory guards arrest all gangsters. Who cares about you, a gangster!" The visitor looked around, hid in a corner, and replied in a low voice.

The short man followed the corner and argued: "But you asked me to speak ill of the emperor, and it also involves the chief assistant and the admiral of the East Factory. Maybe I will be arrested by the factory guards. If I don't raise the price, I quit!"

The man heard his firm words and understood that he was still afraid. The master thought that these words were not enough to spread in the capital, and it seemed that he could only agree to his request. Thinking so, he immediately threw out a small piece of broken silver and said: "Do you understand that the law does not punish everyone? Forget it, it involves Wen Ni. Forget about Cao Ni's words for the time being, and the other words need to be spread more often, the risk is small, do you understand?"

When the short man took the money, he was already overjoyed. When he heard this again, he suddenly became overjoyed. He quickly said with a flattering smile: "Don't worry, this is fine. I will tell you more. I have already told you." If you find out, those people won’t believe anything else. But there are many people who believe that the emperor might like the work of a mason!"

After hearing this, the visitor left directly, as if he didn't want to stay longer or talk to the short man, lest the price drop.

He turned around and walked to a dark corner far away, where someone was waiting for him. After the same conversation, he finally disappeared into the night.

In a study room in a high-walled compound, this man bowed and reported the situation to an old man.

"Well done!" The old man praised without emotion, and then ordered, "Ignore those people from now on. You can leave the capital and return to Lijiazhuang in a year!"

"Yes, sir!"

After watching him retreat, the old man turned his head to look in the direction of the imperial city and murmured to himself: "We can't resist you from the front. If you don't use some tricks behind your back, you won't be able to remind you of us veterans!"

At the same time, in the Forbidden City, Cao Huachun, the admiral of Dongchang, also reported to the emperor the dynamics of public opinion in the capital. At the end, he expressed his thoughts: "Your Majesty, I feel that these remarks are not spontaneously made by the people. It seems that someone made them deliberately!"

"Huh?" Hu Guang hummed, thinking about this in his mind.

He had actually predicted this situation. At this time in the late Ming Dynasty, there were too many pig teammates. If frontal attacks could not succeed, they would often stumble and hinder them secretly. That is to say, the political struggle had reached the point where no one was using anything. There is no sense of the overall situation.

Cao Huachun could naturally see that the emperor was also thinking about this, so he continued to report: "But the people in the capital don't seem to believe it. Many people refuted it after hearing it. It's just about one thing... one thing..."

At this point, he was a little hesitant. After all, he was saying something bad about the emperor.

When Hu Guang heard this, he frowned slightly and said, "If you have something to say, don't be hesitant. I won't get punished for my words!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Cao Huachun responded quickly after hearing this, "The emperor said that you, like the previous emperor, might be addicted to masonry!"

"Haha..." Upon hearing this, Hu Guang laughed. He pointed at Cao Huachun and said, "Others don't know, but don't you know what I was doing in those days?"

When Cao Huachun heard this, he laughed together.

Hu Guang immediately waved his hand and said: "Let them talk about this matter. Now the Zhonglie Hall is starting day and night, and part of the foundation will be dug tomorrow afternoon. At that time, it is time to break this rumor."

"Your Majesty, this rumor is self-defeating. Everyone must be very grateful to Your Majesty!" After hearing this, Cao Huachun immediately flattered him.

Hu Guang smiled after hearing this and waved his hand for Cao Huachun to leave. However, he remembered something and ordered: "My eldest companion, check to see if there is someone behind this rumor. If there is someone, find him out."

This kind of thing is actually not easy to check. Unless whoever says to arrest them will be sent to prison to serve them well. But now many people outside are saying that under severe punishment, it is possible to bite randomly, and it is likely to be widely implicated.

If it were before, Cao Huachun wouldn't care. But he knew that the emperor he served would not allow him to do this. After all, the emperor has said that he would rather let a corrupt official go than unjustly accuse a good person.

This matter is a bit difficult to handle, Cao Huachun thought in his mind and retreated.

Hu Guang watched him retreat, but actually he didn't care much about this matter. In fact, he felt a little happy, explaining that his recent series of actions had caught those people off guard. With the combination of kindness and power, no one dared to fool him in person, so he could only use these underhanded methods.

If they do whatever they want with this kind of thing, their reputation will be damaged at most, but they can also bite themselves? With this thought, Hu Guang put the matter behind him and thought of business.

King Qin's army from Changli has arrived in the capital, and soon King Qin's army from other places will arrive in the capital. According to the news, that Ma Shilong is also here. Haha, I'm just waiting for you to fall into the trap, and I'll catch you. When the white pole army arrives, it's time to complete the second step of the task assigned by the system!

Now the Treasury of the Ministry of Revenue only has 510,000 silver taels. This is the principal and cannot be touched. The results of the house raid on Cao Yubian's house are expected to be available in the next two days. But there shouldn't be much cash left, it's just fixed assets and the like.

Thinking of this, Hu Guang focused on what happened after King Qin's army arrived in the capital. After all, this is the next big thing and must be dealt with. The preparation of the new army must also be put on the agenda. And all of this requires money!

All problems in the late Ming Dynasty are ultimately about money! With Hu Guang thinking this, he picked up a few small pieces of paper from the imperial case and read them. This is the new food stamp that Hu Zhengyan printed as quickly as possible.

The picture is a bunch of rice ears, and then the number of rice ears is used to represent the number, and different colors are used to divide the weight unit. Of course, there are also Chinese characters on the side to explain it.

Hu Zhengyan said that due to the rush of work, no more details have been added, otherwise it would be more difficult to forge. Based on this, he can guarantee that no one can produce the bright color of this ink.

After reading it again, Hu Guang no longer worried, and immediately ordered to replace the simple food stamps with these. Then, he took out the seven or eight sketches he had hidden, and it was time for Hu Zhengyan to print them accordingly.